Some of the best acne treatments offered today are based or developed through high technology and scientific innovations. The emergence of high tech medical devices and instruments has changed the way medical and health-related concerns are addressed by specialists and the public in general.

One of the areas of medicine that has benefited from technology is dermatology. The emergence of biotechnology, LEDs and laser has allowed scientists to develop some of the best acne treatments that man has ever seen. Arguably, technology is the best thing that has ever happened to medicine.

The discovery of LEDs, lasers and fluorescent lighting has led to the development of the use of visible light in treating acne, a process better known as phototherapy. This method of treatment has been shown to reduce 64 percent of acne lesions when used twice a week. The method apparently works better when combined with red visible light. The combination has been found to reduce lesions by 76 percent after three months of daily use.

Laser surgery is already used in reducing scars caused by acne and researchers are now focusing on whether the same method can be employed to prevent the actual formation of acne. Laser technology is currently being developed to burn away follicle sac and sebaceous gland and induce the formation of oxygen in the bacteria to kill them. As of 2005, these scenarios remain in the research stage and are not yet established as definite treatment methods.

Another area of high technology that presents a lot of promise for treating acne is biotechnology, particularly the fields tied with genetics. Since acne is believed to be linked with heredity, whole-genome DNA sequencing has been the focus of some research efforts. The aim is to understand the body mechanisms involve in acne formation. The use of gene therapy to alter the DNA of the skin also seems to be a not too far possibility.

Technology has provided us with some of the best acne treatments ever known to man. More possibilities are still waiting to be discovered and 21st century science is on the verge of making all these possibilities a reality.

When it comes to caring for and treating an acne condition, many people fail to take a full blown approach. In other words, many people with acne tend to do one thing when it comes to treating their condition. For example, they might buy a great cleanser to assist in the care and treatment of their acne but they fail to use an appropriate exfoliating product and then follow up with some sort of decent treatment cream.

When all is said and done, if you really do want to resolve an acne condition, you are going to want to take a truly comprehensive care and treatment approach. For example, you will want to incorporate the use of tried and tested products such as ZENMED Derma Cleanse System and ZENMED Body Acne Combo into your acne care and treatment practice.

When all is said and done, the best type of acne treatment program essentially is a three part regimen that includes:

– cleansing

– exfoliating

– application of treatment product

Cleansing

The first step in effectively treating an acne condition is properly cleansing the effected areas with an appropriate cleansing agent. (Again, if you elect to use a product line such as ZENMED Derma Cleanse System and ZENMED Body Acne Combo, you will have available to you a proven type of cleansing agent that can get you well on your way to successfully treating your acne condition.)

In addition to choosing a proper cleansing product as part of your acne treatment regimen, you also need to keep in mind that the cleansing component of an acne treatment program depends upon regularity. In other words, in most cases, you need to fully cleanse the effected areas of the skin at least two times a day. A failure to cleanse the effective areas of skin with such regularity will end up defeating the effectiveness of the treatment regimen itself.

In the treatment of an acne condition, cleansing is the foundation upon which the remainder of the treatment process is built. Therefore, you will want to make certain that you develop a cleansing routine that incorporates appropriate cleansers utilized on a regular basis. In the absence of such a foundational routine, the remaining elements of a comprehensive regimen will be less than effective.

Exfoliating

Many people overlook the necessity of exfoliating when it comes to exercising and implementing an acne care and treatment program Exfoliating the skin is an extremely important component of an overall acne care and treatment regimen.

The process of exfoliating the skin works to effectively remove dead skins cells and imbedded oils that if left unattended can cause an aggravation of an acne condition. There are some excellent products that a person can utilize to ensure that the exfoliating process properly is completed.

A person should exfoliate on a daily basis. In some instances a person can go two days between exfoliations — but, you need to keep in mind that oils, dirt and dead skin cells build up on a daily basis.

Treatment Products

Only very rarely can an acne condition effectively be resolved without the intervention of appropriate treatment products like those included in the ZENMED Derma Cleanse System and ZENMED Body Acne Combo product lines. As has been referenced earlier, the treatment of acne really is a three part process: cleansing, exfoliating and treatment application.

There are different types of treatment products on the market today — each of these products designed to treat different types of acne conditions. As a result, you need to take the time to consider which treatment product will best address the particular type of acne condition that your are afflicted with at a given point in time.

For example, if you have a condition of body acne, you will want to invest in a comprehensive treatment program such as ZENMED Body Acne Combo. On the other hand, if you are suffering from facial acne — either as an adult or a teenager — you will want to focus on a product like ZENMED Derma Cleanse System.

Conclusion

By adopting a comprehensive course of treatment for an acne condition you will work to resolve a current condition and you will be in a far better position to prevent future outbreaks. Additionally, even if you face a future outbreak, by utilizing a comprehensive treatment program you will be able to lessen the severity of a future acne outbreak.

Acne is the term for plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads), pimples, and even deeper lumps (cysts or nodules) that occur on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders and even the upper arms. Acne affects most teenagers to some extent. However, the disease is not restricted to any age group; adults in their 20s – even into their 40s – can get acne. While not a life threatening condition, acne can be upsetting and disfiguring. When severe, acne can lead to serious and permanent scarring. Even less severe cases can lead to scarring. Why does acne happen?

- An inflamed spot occurs due to the release of inflammatory fatty acids by a particular bacterium known as p.acnes, which causes the bodys defence systems to respond.
- You would however not get p.acnes colonisation of the hair follicle duct without a plug forming.
- The plug forms due to an increase in skin cell turnover, increased keratin deposition narrowing the opening of the hair follicle duct, combined with increased sebum production, which mixes with the debris to cause a blockage and a plug to form.
- The increased sebum, keratin and cell turnover would not happen if linoleic acid levels in the skin had reduced dramatically.
- Linoleic acid levels reduced due to the development of sensitivity to the hormone DHT.
- DHT is formed from testosterone. The chemical reaction naturally happens throughout the body and the conversion of testosterone to DHT is assisted and promoted by the enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. (All chemical reactions in the body are controlled and accelerated by enzymes).

Possible solutions to the underlying causes of acne:

1)Stop hormonal fluctuations. This is impossible although people do try by taking plant hormones, HRT and royal jelly. But basically it is best not to mess with our natural hormonal balance.

2)Use Roaccutane. This will affect the conversion of testosterone to DHT, but this will occur all over the body and DHT plays a role in a number of body functions and suppressing it leads to a number of possible side effects.

3)Reduce DHT levels in the hair follicle and in sebaceous gland area only, known as the pilo-sebaceous unit. If it were possible to prevent testosterone from converting to DHT in the acne area of the skin but not stopping this conversion elsewhere in the body could reduce skin sensitisation and the resulting linoleic acid loss, but without affecting the conversion of testosterone to DHT in other parts of the body. This would be great in principle if one can alter the conditions in the pilosebaceous unit for an extended period of time so that DHT levels were reduced locally during the times in our lives when normal hormone levels were out of sync with a topical preparation could lead to a reduction in the triggering of the acne process. Two products called tri-ethyl citrate and ethyl linoleate which are safe and release citric acid and linoleic acid can change conditions in the skin which slows down the enzyme 5-alpha reductase and hence testosterone conversion to DHT is slowed down locally. The testosterone conversion to DHT will still occur but just somewhere else in the body, meaning other bodily processes are not affected.

4) If one could also replenish linoleic acid levels in the skin then this would lead to a slow down in oil production and skin cell turnover rates and keratin deposition, preventing the plug forming and the colonisation by p.acnes.

5)One could take linoleic acid supplements and foods high in linoleic acid. However linoleic acid is used by many parts of the body and one would have to take possibly toxic levels to affect skin levels significantly enough through oral supplementation alone. Doing this without going to excess is probably however a good thing and it has been noticed that the Eskimos (the Inuit) did not suffer from acne until they were introduced to western diets. However if one can find a way to supplement skin linoleic acid levels using a topical preparation then this would also have an impact on the acne process.

6)Getting linoleic acid into the skin is not easy but you can use special delivery technology using special molecular structures in creams such as Oleosomes and involving techniques with fancy names such as Drysyst technology to help this process. Also if one uses ethyl linoleate, then skin bacteria will help break this down and release linoleic acid into the skin (look for products containing ethyl linoleate.)

7)One could normalise cell turnover to reduce skin thickening and also reduce keratin increases in skin cells. This would help to prevent blocking of the pilo-sebaceous duct. Retinol A based creams have been shown to normalise skin cell turnover rates. However a potential side effect of retinol products is increased sensitivity to UV and maybe increased skin cancer risk. So users of retinol based products are advised strongly to use a high SPF sunscreen while using retinol based products. There is a chemical called triethyl citrate which also normalises keratin deposition and skin cell turnover rates and without causing photo-sensitivity (please search for products containing triethyl citrate).

8)Reduce oil levels on the skin. This is normally done by using detergents to keep surface oil levels down. Doing this on its own just leads to more oil production and one gets into a downward spiral with a negative feedback loop leading to further increase (up regulation) of sebum (oil) production. However oil control is important and using mild detergents can help in controlling the acne process. Using a combination of triethyl citrate and ethyl linoleate has been shown in a clinical trial published in the British Journal of Dermatology at the end of 2007 which showed sebum production rates reduced by up to 68% with an average of 55%.

9)Use exfoliants and detergents to help unblock ducts by dissolving and removing plugs and keeping skin debris levels down and also reducing skin thickening. This is effective and can help but if the skin is inflamed and sore then exfoliants can, make the skin more sensitive and sore. It maybe better to use chemical exfoliants rather than irritating physical skin exfoliants. Better still use those which have shown to affect sebum production rates such as Salicylic acid and Pyruvic acid which are both hydroxy acids (also known as fruit acids). These are the only two who have shown a sebo-static effect which means temporarily slowing oil production. Another common chemical exfoliant used is glycolic acid but this has not shown to have a sebo-static effect. Also salicylic acid has shown to help with skin thickening by loosening skin cells. See products containing Salicylic acid and Pyruvic acid).

10)Even products with fruit acids may irritate some skins, and some acne sufferers such as younger skins can be very sensitive and actually dont have excessive skin thickening. One could use a gentle non irritating cleansing agent containing products such as silicone and glucose based cleansers which are very skin friendly, and also contain triethyl citrate which will normalise skin thickening by addressing over active skin cell turnover, thereby addressing skin thickening from within the skin.

11)Control p.acnes levels. Keeping hair follicle ducts open and oxygen rich is one way but blockages can still happen. So if you are going to control p.acnes than ideally do this without attacking skin staphylococci as discussed earlier due to MRSA development risks. One can use antibiotics to do this and they may be indicated in pustular scarring acne but for most we know that p.acnes releases enzymes to break down the plug to release nutritious fatty acids which also can cause an inflammatory response from the body. If you change conditions in the pilosebaceous unit so these enzymes dont work as well you can slow down this process and reduce the amount of food and consequently reduce the growth of p.acnes without attacking good skin bacteria (staphs) (see an example of how this ca be achieved)

12)Reduce inflammation. Using products to control bacteria will reduce inflammation but also anti-inflammatorys used to reduce inflammation. Stopping the release of the inflammatory fatty acids is another way, but also mopping up the inflammatory free radicals produced is an additional way of controlling inflammation. Antioxidants are useful in this regard and the best antioxidants are probably skin soluble version of vitamin C such as ascorbic acid and others such as Ascorbyl Palmitate and especially Ascorbyl tetra-isopalmitate (see an example of a product containing these).

In Summary

If you have a product range which alters conditions to slow DHT production locally, increase linoleic acid levels in the skin, that normalise skin cell turnover, keratin deposits and sebum production while also having mild sebo static chemical exfoliants or silicone and glucose based cleansers. If this product also had, staph friendly antibacterials to control p.acnes, feeding and development combined with antioxidants to help control the inflammatory process, then you would have a highly effective product range which could be obtained with or without prescription and is supported by eminent dermatologists across the world, including the top dermatologist on acne in the UK who has had his independent trail published din the most respected dermatology journal in the world, then you would be onto a winner. If this product was incredibly reasonably priced you would think it would dominate the treatment options of acne.